On the Prowl
by hildekitten
Summary: My 3rd in the post Sonata series I'm writing, follow up to "Really no such thing as vampires" A simple enough assignment might lead to something much more complicated... not to mention dangerous  Mick, Beth, Josef, Ophelia  OC  and Ben all take part.


**Mick's apartment, 8am in the morning on a Thursday**  
_I've had a little bit too much, much  
All of the people start to rush, start to rush by  
A dizzy twisted dance, can't find my drink, oh man  
Where are my keys? I lost my phone, phone  
What's going on on the floor?  
I love this record baby but I can't see straight anymore  
Keep it cool, what's the name of this club?  
I can't remember but it's alright, a-alright__  
_She's sitting in the sofa, watching some music television, sniggering at all the silly clips, especially the one currently on, with a cup of A positive in her hands. Her eyes are the exact shade of grey as her brother's, but whilst his hair is dark brown, hers is red. He looks like their father, she looks like their mother. It makes people disinclined to believe at face value that they really are siblings.  
His footsteps on the stairs are barely audible, bare feet don't tend to make much noise. She can smell him though, vampires can always smell each other because the scent of decay and she looks up and waves hello with her free hand. He smiles at her in reply. She's already up and dressed her usual attire of a black skirt, boots and pouf sleeved shirt, he's still in his favourite burgundy silk loungepants.  
"Beth's going to kill you if you're not ready and at hers in an hour you know…"  
"Hey sis, good morning to you too. Don't you need to be somewhere?"  
"Yeah, my day is so filled I might die. Be at Josef's in two hours, take some pics for his website and assorted, bring lunch to Beth and Ben, go to class, do that surveillance photography job for you at the Edison. I'm pretty sure I can manage." Her smile lights up all the way to her eyes and he smirks at her before chuckling.  
"Be careful at the Edison ok?" He's suddenly serious again.  
"What's the worst thing that can happen Mick? It's surveillance for a client of yours to see if her husband is cheating on her with some guy during 40cent happy hour. I go to that club all the time. I might as well be furniture there by now. I can take Ben along if that makes you happy. He can look menacing at guys trying to chat me up or something."  
He can't help but laugh at that notion and then suddenly frowns whilst pouring his breakfast. "What's going on between you and Talbot?"  
"Nothing, we just get along. He's nice, he gave Beth time off the other day to pose for my portrait assignment, he even posed himself for a couple of shots. I wanted to make him wear my crazy heart shaped sunglasses Logan got for me as a gag gift, but he wouldn't hear of it. I've got a pic of Beth wearing them though, at least she has a sense of humour."  
He looks unconvinced, shakes his head frowning like he's heard really quite enough of photography escapades and takes another sip from his cup.  
"I'll go get ready and drop you off at Josef's along the way ok, and please sis, loose those sunglasses, they're ridiculous."  
"Hey, I'm an artiste, I'm supposed to wear crazy stuff!" she ostentatively puts them on, grinning widely. It truly is a silly sight.  
"You just wear those around me to wind me up don't you?"  
"Well you, Josef and Ben really. I wear my proper sunglasses the rest of the time."  
He makes a face at her while finishing his breakfast before retreating upstairs to the bathroom to get ready for his own day.

**Mick voice-over:**  
"There's far more to Talbot than Ophelia is sharing with me, and I'll need to get it out of her sooner than later, preferably before something does happen between him and my sister. And I also need to find out where she's hiding those pictures she took of Beth, especially the ones with those glasses, I could tease her with those so much."

**Josef's office, 10 am**  
She's in time, cameras in her carry bag. There's a bunch of activity as usual. She smiles and greets people and is in the middle of hugging Ryder when her phone rings.  
"Hey Uncle Lance, I can't really talk right now, I'm at work, can I ring you back when I'm done photographing here? … Ok talk to you in a bit! Oh an hour or two tops I think. Ok au revoir."  
Josef frowns: "does Mick know you talk to Lance? They don't exactly get along."  
She shrugs: "I'm sure he'll survive. How can he not know, I lived with these vamps for over 50 years, and apart from Coraline, none of them every did anything to me. I can't be expected not to speak to them anymore just because once Mick got his ass kicked by Lance."  
Josef knows better than to push this subject, and makes a mental note not to drop this around Mick, but can't resist making just the one snarky remark with a boyish grin.  
"Twice, he got his ass kicked by Lance twice actually. So where do you want me for these photos?"  
She smiles and starts switching lenses, talking about lighting and the best locations to get the best shots. He smiles back, thinking to himself just how much she's the opposite of her brother. Even though Mick is much happier since he's properly made work of his relationship with Beth, he's still very much Mr-Skulk-in-the-Shadows. Ophelia on the other hand, is so full of life it's hard to believe she's undead.  
He's surprised at the speed and competence she takes the photos, and he can't help but realise that whilst he originally just hired her as a favour to Mick, he couldn't have found a better photographer when he looks at the pictures she's uploaded on one of the many computers in the office.  
"I didn't want to say it, but you do have talent, l'm amazed at how professional and stylish you're making me look."  
Ryder is looking at them too "those are amazing, they only need resizing for the site, how do you do it?"  
She shrugs and smiles "I have a good eye for light I guess. I do want to work on them mind, I'll get you the finished ones by Saturday evening ok?"  
"A good eye for light? It's like you can predict how it's going to fall!"  
"Ryder you're giving me too much credit".  
She's smiling, but it's not reaching her eyes this time. Josef and Ryder are too busy choosing photos and going on about how much they like them to notice.  
"Your girlfriend is here Josef. And I need to go, I'm taking lunch to Beth and her boss."  
They hug and say their goodbyes and she leaves, Josef straightens his tie and produces his best smile for the appearance of Simone.  
Ryder is looking at the security screens on the second screen.  
"Josef?"  
"Yes?"  
"Simone only just entered the building…"

Fade to the next scene at them both looking confused.

**L.A. County morgue**  
Guillermo is making notes on a corpse covered in a white sheet when Ophelia wanders in. He sniffs the air and smiles, putting down his clip-board and turning to hug the girl.  
"Hey gorgeous, how are you doing today?"  
"I'm fine thanks, yourself?"  
"I'm good, are you here about that murder victim that I texted your brother about?"  
She frowns: "actually no, I'm here to get some lunch but while I am here, I'll have a look at it."  
Guillermo smiles and digs up a bag of A positive for her from a freezer.  
"Cheers!" She smiles widely when she takes the bag from him and puts it in a paper lunchbag.  
"No problem. So you want to see the body?"  
That moment Mick comes in, he looks surprised to see his younger sister.  
"Ophelia, aren't you supposed to be a Josef's?"  
"I was, I'm done and now I'm here for lunch. Mr-I-shall-exclude-my-sister-from-dodgy-corpses".  
He gives her an annoyed look and turns to Guillermo, who is following the situation amusedly. "Hey, what have you got?"  
"Another vamp victim, shot with silver in the head. And then decapitated."  
He pulls back the sheet and both siblings back away, suppressing a gag-reflex as reaction to the silver.  
"He used a hollow point slug?"  
"Not just that, it was engraved with a holy cross."  
Ophelia is looking at it all wide eyed and sits down on the ground. "So some guy is being a Van Hellsing wannabe picking off vampires?"  
"Seems like it."  
"Right, you need to get up off the floor and go about your day, otherwise Beth will get worried if you don't show up. Do not tell her about this! I'm going to see what I can find out about this situation, preferably before people start paying too much attention and another vamp ends up dead. Thanks man."  
He nods at Guillermo before going out, Ophelia has gotten up when he told her to and smiles at him, before wandering after her brother.  
"You know, we don't get situations like these in France!" she mutters darkly at her older brother.  
"Ophelia, you lived with Lance, I very nearly feel sorry for the hunter that so much as sets foot in Versailles."

**Josef's office**  
Mick walks in, worried. Josef and Simone are looking at the pictures Ophelia took earlier that day, trying to decide which one makes him look more sexy. They're laughing and going back and forth to them, pointing some out cheerfully.  
"Mick! You should see these photos! Your sister did a great job, I'm going to hire her for all of my stuff from now on! Can't wait 'till I get the finished photos this weekend, she's making me look even more perfect!"  
Simone tries her best to stifle sniggering at her boyfriend's behaviour behind her hands.  
"Yeah that's great." He doesn't sound happy or even glad at all.  
"What's wrong?"  
"We've got a hunter problem."  
The smiles disappear immediately, and Simone looks at them both, picking up her bag and swinging it over one shoulder. "I better go, this is vampire business." She presses a kiss on Josef's cheek and leaves.  
"A hunter problem?"  
"Yeah, we've got a dead vamp at the morgue, first he was shot in the head with a hollow point silver bullet and then decapitated. There was a holy cross carved in the bullet."  
"The order of the Sacred Cross." Josef sounds worried.  
"You know them?"  
"They were the ones that led the Reign of Terror's massive vampire purging during the French Revolution. They work in splinter cells nowadays, and it seems one has become active in L.A."  
"So we need to find them, and deal with them, before we all end up dead."

*Fade to Ben's apartment: around 3 pm*

_I don't wanna be the girl  
who has to fill the silence  
The quiet scares me  
cause it screams the truth__  
_Ophelia is standing outside in the hallway, hesitating outside his door. Sighing deeply she rings the doorbell. It takes the whole of 5 seconds before Ben opens it and smiles. He's in most of his clothes from work, still wearing his shirt and trousers but barefoot, opening the door wide for her to come in. For a moment they look at each other, eyes locked and neither speaking.  
_Aahh, the night is calling?  
And it whispers to me  
softly come and play__  
_It's Ben who regains his composure first.  
"Hey look at you all ready to go, give me half an hour ok."  
"Can you change into a some huge wolf monster like in the movies?" She looks at him curiously, eyes narrowed and head to one side, inquisitively.  
He looks back at her taken aback, obviously not expecting that question.  
"No, no it's not like that. We can "wolf out" I guess you'd call it. And change into a wolf. Draw claws, like you."  
"I'm too young to draw claws."  
"Is that what you're telling your brother and his friends? Your scent is way more potent than that of your brother, I don't believe you can't draw claws."  
She grins teasingly "Have you been sniffing at me Benjamin Talbot?"  
He almost blushes, and turns to retreat to the safety of the bathroom.  
"Half an hour Ophelia."  
Sighing and rolling her eyes she flops down in the sofa and calls after him "you're such a girl, it didn't even take ME that long to get ready!"  
"That's because you don't sweat and you've been in most of your clothes all day as it is little miss cheating, I still have to shower, I got home 5 minutes before you got here!" he retorts.  
That shuts her up and she finds the remote to flick through the TV channels, settling on an old werewolf horror movie on sci-fi channel with a wide mischievous grin.  
When he's finally all ready and dressed Ben comes back, dressed in boots, black slacks and a tight fitting longsleeve with D-rings, frowning at her choice of television. She's trying hard not to laugh.  
"What?" he smiles, curiously.  
She holds up a bondage strap that was wrapped around many times around her wrist and starts laughing.  
Ben rolls his eyes and flops down next to her, tickling her, making her scream out in surprise and squirm around to attempt to get away from him.  
"That'll teach you not to make dog jokes!"  
She pushes him off and looks him in the eye, she's serious now.  
"Show me."  
"What here and now?"  
"Will it rip your clothes or something?"  
"No but…"  
He looks her in the eye, for a moment they sit there, frozen in time and then he nods.  
The change is instant. One moment he's Benjamin Talbot, tall and wiry, dressed in all black. And the next moment he's a grey wolf with golden brown eyes, just sitting there in the sofa, watching her expectantly. Hesitantly she reaches out to stroke his fur, tentatively, as if she can't believe it's all real.  
He lets her for a while, and then changes back, as swiftly as he changed in the first place, his clothes aren't even wrinkled. Her hand is still on his head, and teasingly she ruffles his hair.  
"Wow… you win."  
He laughs and pokes her in the side teasingly.  
"Come on, let's go to the Edison so you can take those photos."

**The Edison**  
They're sitting at a table, both with a glass of wine.  
"How come you can drink alcohol but not anything else?"  
"I'm not sure, it's just how it is I suppose. At least in clubs and bars it doesn't draw attention."  
"Yeah I can imagine taking you out to a restaurant isn't all that enjoyable for you."  
She grins, her eyes sparkling "were you going to ask me out to a restaurant Benjamin?"  
"Well I considered it, but now I'm thinking a movie instead." He grins and she chuckles. "Just not to some dodgy werewolf movie or chick flick mind."  
"I'd like that."  
Reaching for her camera she nods at him slightly, indicating the guys she's supposed to watch have arrived.  
"Smile Ben."  
He grins and pretends to pose, while she really photographs the men behind them, two tables away.  
Ben leans over to her, curiously. "Can you hear what they're saying?"  
"Yeah if I want to, can't you?"  
"No I can't heighten my senses that much."  
"Well for starters, they don't look like a gay couple to me so pictures really should suffice but let me check."  
She concentrates, turning her head slightly, Ben leaning in, pretending to whisper something in her ear, it makes her smile.  
"Will Father Luciano receive me as a member of the Holy order now?"  
"You have most certainly shown us dedication brother, but you know the rules. You must show us more before you will be fully initiated."  
"Then more bloodsuckers will die."  
"And you will be received by the Lord in the Holy Order afterwards and be privy to all of our secrets."  
She goes pale, clenching up. Ben instinctively turns his head to see what's happening behind his back, while holding Ophelia's hand so she can't disappear off while he's not facing her, the men still talking quietly over their drinks, having a seemingly normal conversation.  
He turns back to Ophelia "what's going on?"  
"I need to ring my brother, these guys are hunters."  
Ben's game face comes on immediately and he stands. "We're leaving, right now, I'm not taking chances, there's too many people here that could get hurt."

**In Ben's car and in Mick's apartment  
Ben and Ophelia are in the car, on the way to Ben's apartment.**  
Josef, Beth and Mick are sitting in the living room, the fire crackling behind them.  
"Hey Mick. The good news is, your client's husband isn't cheating on her at that location and I've got the photo proof for it. The bad news is, he's a hunter and he met the assassin of that vamp that got shot in the head. They're in some kind of order, well the guy I'm doing surveillance on is, the other one is aspiring membership."  
"What? Are you sure? Are they still there? Did they notice you're a vampire?"  
"Yes, I eavesdropped in on them and I'm sure they're still there, no they didn't notice me. IF they even registered our presence they just saw me and Ben sitting there talking and drinking wine.  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yes"  
"Where are you now?"  
"With Ben, in his car, on the way to his place."  
"Come home instead, it's safer here."  
"Look, I am not at the scene, I'll be fine, plus I can take care of myself you know."  
"I don't have time to argue with you, just stay at Ben's and away from the Edison, Josef and I will handle this." He hangs up and scowls.  
Beth looks at him annoyed "Josef and I? And what about me?"  
"Beth, these are hunters firing with hollow point bullets, Josef and I can heal, but a bullet like that could kill you, I don't want to take that risk of loosing you."  
"And what if one of you gets shot, you'll need blood to heal silver damage or even keep going 'till you reach a place where someone can remove the bullet!"  
He knows she's right just like he knows when he's defeated, but he doesn't like it one bit and it shows. "Ok fine, but you do exactly what Josef and I say ok."  
"Ok." She sounds determined and they leave.

**Mick voice-over:**  
Beth coming just makes this situation extra dangerous, I don't want to have to end up being forced to drink her blood again, that's not the way I want her blood in my veins. I just hope there is a way of keeping her out of any direct danger whilst dealing with these guys.

**Downtown L.A. an empty alley**  
They've followed the assassins there, through shadows unnoticed. One man gives the other an envelope. "This is the updated list, will you make sure A.D.A Talbot gets it?"  
Mick recognises the man who takes it as the husband of his client and growls softly, barely audible, under his breath.  
Josef taps him on the shoulder to make him be quiet.  
Beth has drawn her gun and is switching aim between both hunters on the street below.  
"Of course I will, just like I always do. Who will you take out next?"  
"That redhead, the St-John girl, she is getting too close to Talbot, and we still need him, can't have be distracted from the cause by this hellion, the way she's wrapped him around her finger is abominable. We can't slowly start inducting him if this gets too far, we need an in with the DA's office. If hadn't been for all the innocents at the Edison, and the ADA being there I would have killed her on the spot." The assassin sounds disappointed.  
"Soon though brother, you will have your chance."  
"Yes! And then her head will roll."  
His superior smiles, obviously pleased at the spirit of his pupil.  
Mick can't stand it any longer and vamps out, growling and jumping down the roof. The men turn at the noise and draw their guns.  
"Shit!" Josef vamps too and follows his friend while Beth thinks fast and puts a bullet in the shoulder of the first one aiming at Mick.  
The remaining hunter, the full fledged member of the order, shoots unhindered and the silver bullet hits Mick full in the stomach area. He falls down screaming in agony, doubling over trying to get up again.  
Beth's heart misses a beat as she screams out for her lover in panic "MICK!"  
Josef has the situation under control, and snaps the neck of the leading hunter in one fluent movement, grabbing the wounded man and pulling him up, so his face is only inches away from his own.  
"Start talking hunter."  
The man isn't even scared. They can hear hurried footsteps as Beth is running up to them, having come down by the fire escape.  
She drops down next to Mick, "oh my god Mick, we need to get you home to remove that bullet."  
He groans in agony, face pale, eyes blue and fangs showing.  
"No Beth no, I can hold on longer. Help me up."  
She looks worried, but helps him up nonetheless. Supports him while he walks over to Josef and the assassin.  
"What has Talbot to do with this?" Mick growls at the man in Josef's unwavering grip.  
"He's a tool, a handy pawn in our cause, and he will do our bidding once he finds out about you monsters lurking in the shadows, praying on mankind. And you will all die. Others will come! In nomine patri, spiritus sancti…" He starts praying in Latin, and no matter how much the vampires scream at him, he's lost in his own world.  
Josef trusts him at Mick, who bites down in the man's shoulder, and all the anger and pain of the vampire flow down into the man, and he screams while his blood flows from him into Mick, 'till there is nothing left.  
Beth looks at it in shock, while Josef dials the number of the cleaner to sort with both corpses and evidence.  
"Are we safe now?" her voice is trembling and she's pale from shock.  
"For now, there are still more of them who will be rethinking their plans as soon as these guys don't show up anymore, and your boss is the only access we have to more information." Mick is still shaky on his feet, but his voice is steady.

**Ben's apartment**  
_From my laboratory in the castle east  
To the master bedroom where the vampires feast  
The ghouls all came from their humble abodes  
To get a jolt from my electrodes  
They did the mash  
They did the monster mash  
The monster mash  
It was a graveyard smash__  
_Ophelia and Ben are sitting in the sofa, there's music playing in the background.  
"Do you think they'll be alright?"  
"I'm sure they are." She sounds confident, but worried.  
Suddenly she jumps up and pulls open the door. Josef, Mick and Beth are standing there, Beth's finger isn't even on the doorbell yet.  
"Mick what happened?" He might have changed shirts, but she can tell right away from the paleness of his face something is wrong.  
"Got shot, it's ok, the bullet is out." He glares at Josef.  
"What? I got it out didn't I."  
"We need to speak to Ben. He has a list of names of vampires."  
Ophelia looks at Beth. "He doesn't have the list anymore, I have it. He has no clue what's going on, leave him out of it."  
"Are you sure of that?" Mick sounds threatening.  
"Hi guys, jeez Mick you don't look very good, are you ok?" Ben has gotten up from the couch and walked to the door, standing behind Ophelia.  
"I'll be fine, we need to talk."  
"Sure, come on in." He opens the door wide, letting the vampires and his collegue in.  
It's obvious Ben knows perfectly well who Josef is, but the two had never been introduced before and he's not about to be impolite, especially not in his own home.  
"Hi, Ben Talbot." He extends a hand at Josef.  
"Josef Kostan." He shakes hands with Ben, raising an eyebrow at the firmness of the other man's grip, measuring him up head to toe for a moment.  
"It's about that list you got. With our names on it." Mick persists, getting the conversation back on track.  
"Oh that thing, I gave it to Ophelia. Must be some student prank, it was full of historical figures and then some other names. I have real cases to spend time on. I can't be spending my valuable time on some idiot with too much time on their hands. It wasn't one of you guys that dropped it off was it?" He raises an eyebrow at them suspiciously.  
"No, no it wasn't. We just heard about it and well, since our names are on it we wanted to talk to you about it, see if you knew who send it." Josef replies.  
"My guess is as good as yours, but I'm not taking it serious to be honest."

**Mick voice-over**  
"His heart is steady, calm, he must be telling the truth, Josef seems to think so too. Thank god he's too self-absorbed to look into it or even remotely take it serious. That or he's a very good liar. I'm going to keep a closer eye on this guy in the future."

Mick nods. "Sorry for disturbing your evening and barging in like this. We should be on our way again."  
"Oh hey no worries."/i  
Beth nods also, agreeing with her boyfriend "Yeah, we should. Night Ben."  
Josef just nods at Ben and turns to leave.  
"Are you coming Ophelia?" Mick is waiting for his sister to get her stuff.  
"No not yet, I'll see you guys later."  
Mick looks at her in disbelief and Beth is making a "you and Ophelia?" kind of face at Ben, who rolls his eyes and shakes his head in a "no" kind of response.  
"Let me see you guys out. Have a good night." Ophelia glares pointedly at Mick, ushering him and Beth out of the door and into the hall where Josef is waiting for them.  
Ben smiles before closing the door behind them and sighing before going back to the sofa.  
"That was close." He looks at Ophelia intently.  
"Yeah too close, I'm sure my brother doesn't suspect anything though, I'll give him the list later on. But not those photos, somehow I don't think he'll be too pleased about you having had pictures of him getting run over by a car and getting up again pretty much straight after since that Tierney Taylor case. Good thing you have such a steady heartbeat otherwise he would have known you were lying."

**Mick's apartment**  
They're sitting in the sofa, Beth is resting in Mick's arms, her head against his shoulder.  
"Are you feeling better?"  
"Yeah, nothing a good rest won't cure. I hope I didn't scare you, out there, with that hunter."  
"I was shocked for a moment, I've not seen you so ferocious before, but I understand. After all he was going to go after Ophelia."  
"Yeah." He presses a kiss on Beth's hair. "I'm just glad she's safe."  
Beth reaches up and kisses him. "It'll all be ok, you'll see. We'll find the rest of their cell, they won't be able to harm anyone you care about."  
He smiles at her and hugs her tightly to him, the fire behind them softly crackling on.  
"I hope you're right. Hey, how about I cook you dinner?"  
"You're going to cook me dinner?"  
"Hey you'll have to help with the seasoning but I can still cook you know."  
She grins "I'd like that."  
"I am a really good cook you know, now what shall I make you? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?" He's teasing obviously. "Or chicken with barbeque sauce and roast vegetables?"  
"As long as you leave the adding of the sauce to me Mick St-John, before you pour the entire bottle on it."  
_And I can feel the clock unwind  
The parts of me I tied are running  
And all the birds are in my head  
The laughter that was dead is coming__  
_They laugh, rummaging through the cupboards and fridge. Ophelia smiles at the scene when she wanders in, dropping a list of names on the table before joining the hustle and bustle and shamelessly ganging up against Mick with Beth. After all, that's how things go, whether you're human or not quite.  
_Ooh, what a feeling (oo-ooh oo-ooh)  
Ooh, what a feeling (oo-ooh oo-ooh)  
Oo-oo-ooh oo-ooh, what a feeling  
The laughter that was dead is coming  
Oo-oo-ooh oo-ooh, what a feeling  
The laughter that was dead is coming  
_

**Song list:**  
"Just Dance" Lady GaGa  
"Sober" Pink  
"Monster Mash" The Misfits  
"What a Feeling" Heather Nova


End file.
